Housing Trends – January 2015

Welcome to my blog! For my first post, I’d like to share my housing tends newsletter which is specially designed with national and local housing information that I hope you find useful. Whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general, I think you’ll find some great resources here.

If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click here for a free evaluation report

Sound decisions can only be made with accurate and reliable information, and I am happy to be a trusted resource for you. I look forward to answering any questions you may have and to the opportunity to be your real estate agent in the future.

National Market Update

WASHINGTON (January 23, 2015) – Despite low inventory conditions, existing-home sales bounced back in December and climbed above an annual pace of 5 million sales for the sixth time in seven months, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Median home prices for 2014 rose to their highest level since 2007, but total sales fell 3.1 percent from 2013. Read more

Ready for a Jolt in the Housing Market? The strengthening of the economy will drive the housing market forward this year and make up for last year’s “unspectacular” housing activity, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group’s report, released Thursday. Stronger wages for many Americans likely will lead to a higher rate of household formation in 2015, Fannie researchers note.

Home ownership The homeownership rate in the third quarter 2014 was 64.4 percent, down 0.9 (+/- 0.4) percentage points from the third quarter 2013 rate of 65.3 percent. The homeownership rates in the Northeast, Midwest and South were lower than the rates in the third quarter 2013, while the rate in the West was not statistically different from the rate a year ago.

New home sales Sales of new single-family houses in November 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000. This is 1.6 percent (+/- 12.3%)* below the revised October 2014 estimate of 445,000.

Source: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Regional Market Updates

View market statistics for your region. Click on the links below to view data from two different industry sources. Choose information on local prices & state sales from any of 150 metropolitan housing markets prepared by the National Association of REALTORS® or information on sales & price activity from local area markets in 25 states prepared by Clarus MarketMetrics.